Management Contact at ishopforipsos SASSIE

Does anyone have a higher up contact (email/phone) at ishopforipsos SASSIE that I can reach out to discuss a shop that was rejected today because I did not photograph complimentary breadsticks that were served at the restaurant I dined at for one of their shops? No where in the description did it tell me that I had to take this picture of the unwrapped breadsticks UNTIL I began filling out the report. The instructions only said that I needed to photograph the food that I ordered which I did. I then uploaded a picture of a single breadstick that I brought home and the scheduler wants to reject my report. Needless to say, I am very unhappy.

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Hey, I'm sorry, but usually the guidelines state to read both the guidelines and look over the report form beforehand. I know their report forms are wonky because you don’t get a printable view and have to go into the actual report form and click that you were able to do the shop to see all the questions. I haven't done one of these in awhile. I'll go back through my old emails and see if I can find the project manager from when I did it. Keep in mind that project managers change periodically. I guess you can try!
Okay, try Alyson: Alyson.Whitten@ipsos.com
She was the former project manager when I did this shop in April. Good luck!
I just go directly to Carey. The rest are hit and miss. carey.medina@ipsos.com.

Their incomplete guidelines are becoming worse and worse. Sigh.

@chintwin wrote:

Does anyone have a higher up contact (email/phone) at ishopforipsos SASSIE that I can reach out to discuss a shop that was rejected today because I did not photograph complimentary breadsticks that were served at the restaurant I dined at for one of their shops? No where in the description did it tell me that I had to take this picture of the unwrapped breadsticks UNTIL I began filling out the report. The instructions only said that I needed to photograph the food that I ordered which I did. I then uploaded a picture of a single breadstick that I brought home and the scheduler wants to reject my report. Needless to say, I am very unhappy.
Thanks. It can't hurt to ask for someone else to get involved. The evaluator said that I should have clicked the boxes that I completed the shop before I performed the shop and clicked on the guidelines before I performed the shop to see that they wanted me to take a picture of the unwrapped breadsticks. This requirement was not listed on their shop guidelines initially and quite frankly feels like a way for them not to compensate me for my time and effort to perform the shop. Perhaps others have encountered the same situation!
I would think you would want to take pictures of ALL the food items you received whether or not you "ordered them" or if they were "complimentary." I don't need to see guidelines or questions to take extra pictures just in case.

I personally am not going to argue with them and say "i took pictures of what I ordered. I did not take pictures of extra things they gave me because I did not order those things."
I have had to reach out to Carey Medina, it took a few weeks but she handled my issue.
You SHOULD, actually, they tell you to read the guidelines completely BEFORE doing the shop, several times even. There is no excuse for finding out after the fact because you did not read the guidelines.

That being said, one of the things that my son and I both do is take pictures of EVERYTHING the servers bring to the table, whether we ordered it or not. He also takes pictures of the dining room when we first enter and as we are leaving. And if we're doing a lot of different shops on our route, then we take an extra couple minutes before we get out of the car and re-read the guidelines before we go inside, just to make sure we don't forget important stuff that could keep us from getting paid.
@Morledzep

That is a little over-kill on your part, but if it brings you peace of mind, then keep at it. I mostly do the same shops, so I don't need to re-read them that many times, but I agree, extra pictures has never been a problem.

Some people try to do the minimum and wonder what happened. I'm not saying that is the case for anyone on this thread, but just in life. What is the least I can do and the quickest I can finish. That is many shoppers attitudes. I have been guilty of it myself on certain shops.
I did a dining shop and couldn't remember if we were supposed to photograph everything amiss or just the food. So, I took a picture of a problem I knew I would mention, JIC. But I have never photographed the free bread basket at a restaurant because nobody has required such a thing. I probably would have missed this unspoken requirement as well. If it isn't in the guidelines, IMO, they don't have a leg to stand on. But, they also have a grip on the purse strings and good luck to you with your appeal!
@hbbigdaddy wrote:

@Morledzep

That is a little over-kill on your part, but if it brings you peace of mind, then keep at it. I mostly do the same shops, so I don't need to re-read them that many times, but I agree, extra pictures has never been a problem.

Some people try to do the minimum and wonder what happened. I'm not saying that is the case for anyone on this thread, but just in life. What is the least I can do and the quickest I can finish. That is many shoppers attitudes. I have been guilty of it myself on certain shops.

HB, I've had trouble remembering my name, where I'm going and why I'm going there since my kids were toddlers. If I don't check and re-check everything I WILL forget. I re-read guidelines often, and I take extra pictures because of this.

I do ALL gas station shops the same way, same pictures. I use what I need and save the rest for just in case, it doesn't cost anything extra to have every picture for every type of gas station audit you've ever done, especially when you get a self-important editor that wants more pictures that aren't asked for or required by the report or the guidelines.

It's not overkill, it's the way I cover for my shortcomings.
Honestly, I don't think that doing a shop without reading the guidelines and screwing it up is any reason to get upper management at the MSC involved. It is quite simply your mistake, and you won't get paid because of it. That is what I would expect if it were me, or my son that made that same type of mistake.
@chintwin wrote:

Does anyone have a higher up contact (email/phone) at ishopforipsos SASSIE that I can reach out to discuss a shop that was rejected today because I did not photograph complimentary breadsticks that were served at the restaurant I dined at for one of their shops? No where in the description did it tell me that I had to take this picture of the unwrapped breadsticks UNTIL I began filling out the report. The instructions only said that I needed to photograph the food that I ordered which I did. I then uploaded a picture of a single breadstick that I brought home and the scheduler wants to reject my report. Needless to say, I am very unhappy.

If the guidelines said pic of the food you ordered you should be good since breadsticks are complementary. With that being said, if they want pictures of food common sense says take pictures of all the food complementary or not.
They did read the guidelines. And said this picture was not mentioned in the guidelines. The request for the mandatory picture only appeared in the report once they started filling it out.

The irony of THE ALL CAPS berating of someone about reading...while you sort of failed to read what they wrote...


@Morledzep wrote:

You SHOULD, actually, they tell you to read the guidelines completely BEFORE doing the shop, several times even. There is no excuse for finding out after the fact because you did not read the guidelines.

That being said, one of the things that my son and I both do is take pictures of EVERYTHING the servers bring to the table, whether we ordered it or not. He also takes pictures of the dining room when we first enter and as we are leaving. And if we're doing a lot of different shops on our route, then we take an extra couple minutes before we get out of the car and re-read the guidelines before we go inside, just to make sure we don't forget important stuff that could keep us from getting paid.
Cassie,

I've read it and re-read it. They said "directions" which to me means that they read the blurb at the beginning of the report, and the initial instructions in the email and not the actual guidelines.

"No where in the description did it tell me that I had to take this picture of the unwrapped breadsticks UNTIL I began filling out the report. The instructions only said that I needed to photograph the food that I ordered which I did."

They added the word "guidelines" in a later post. But still says nothing about opening and reading the actual guidelines in the shop.
Don't the actual guidelines state something about looking over the report form? I haven't done this shop in a long time, since they were doing the 'it's your birthday' scenarios, but I thought i remembered reading something along those lines in the actual guidelines.



@Morledzep wrote:

Cassie,

I've read it and re-read it. They said "directions" which to me means that they read the blurb at the beginning of the report, and the initial instructions in the email and not the actual guidelines.

"No where in the description did it tell me that I had to take this picture of the unwrapped breadsticks UNTIL I began filling out the report. The instructions only said that I needed to photograph the food that I ordered which I did."

They added the word "guidelines" in a later post. But still says nothing about opening and reading the actual guidelines in the shop.
@viv0412 wrote:

Don't the actual guidelines state something about looking over the report form? I haven't done this shop in a long time, since they were doing the 'it's your birthday' scenarios, but I thought i remembered reading something along those lines in the actual guidelines.
They always say that but I am sure you have experienced the issue where the report doesn't show in full when you open it, you will see questions populate as you answer? So, you would need to open the actual shop report, fill it in with all fake information, and hope you don't accidentally touch submit or miss removing some fake information when putting the real stuff in. Nobody actually does that, do they?

"If it isn't in the guidelines" is key. Something not being in the email reminder or whatever is no excuse for missing something that was in the guidelines and there is no legitimate argument when that happens.

I've asked (politely) for something to be added to the shop reminder because I forget it even though I have read the guidelines repeatedly and it's in there. it's specific to one shop and not a common practice. I haven't had a major issue because I complete my report immediately after dining and it's one you can remedy from the parking lot. BUT, the scheduler said no and that's their right. I just have to find a way to remember this one thing for this one shop.
@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

@viv0412 wrote:

Don't the actual guidelines state something about looking over the report form? I haven't done this shop in a long time, since they were doing the 'it's your birthday' scenarios, but I thought i remembered reading something along those lines in the actual guidelines.
They always say that but I am sure you have experienced the issue where the report doesn't show in full when you open it, you will see questions populate as you answer? So, you would need to open the actual shop report, fill it in with all fake information, and hope you don't accidentally touch submit or miss removing some fake information when putting the real stuff in. Nobody actually does that, do they?



^^This part. This company is notorious for having reports set up to display add'l questions AFTER you start filling it out. This is one of the reasons I don't do work for them very often. I had it happen with a gas station de-brand shop, luckily it was only 4 miles from me bc I had to go back and take an add'l picture that was NOT noted in the guidelines and didn't appear until I started the report.
Note: I'm in a rural area so 4 miles is no big deal, but when I lived in the city, 4 miles could easily be an hour round trip.
I don't know how the breadstick photo slipped by the OP unless they truly didn't read the guidelines because it's right there on the last line of page one: "Take a clear photo of the breadsticks, ensuring the cloth or paper is unwrapped."

There is an easy way to see ALL of the questions at once on the form. In the URL where it says .....ShopperShopReview.php..... change ShopReview to PrintView, making sure to capitalize each word, then hit enter. (Do not change anything else in the URL.) It will take you to the print view, where it shows every single selection in the form, even some that may not apply to your scenario or situation. For example, questions regarding why the location was closed or you weren't able to complete the shop will show up in the list. Personally, I'd rather see stuff I don't need than be surprised on the back end.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Very grateful for this thread.

I just had an editor request me to completely rewrite an accurate and truthful report for a detailed financial services assignment that followed the guidelines exactly, but revealed a significant lack of professionalism.

Are they known for…preferring only complementary reports?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2025 11:35PM by SBP.
lol SBP, I was deactivated by the first company I ever did a mystery shop for because I wrote the truth. I refused to change my narrative to make the editor happy, so they deactivated me.

I'm not as hard headed these days, I'll change things as requested if they still meet the guidelines. But that's about it.
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